This invention relates to a dryer for drying washed clothes and to a washing/drying machine capable of successively performing washing and drying.
Japanese Utility Model Unexamined Publication No. 57-140280 discloses a fully automatic washing machine in which washing/dehydrating basket stands upright to perform washing and centrifugal dehydration and thereafter is inclined so as to perform drying operation.
Japanese Utility Model Unexamined Publication No. 61-21476 discloses a drum type washing/drying machine in which a rotary drum is held in an inclined position. Hot air is blown into this drum through small vent holes formed in the peripheral wall of the drum and is exhausted through a front opening. The exhaust air is again heated and blown into the rotary drum through the small vent holes to provide a circulating flow of heated air.
Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 55-52797 discloses a drum type clothing dryer in which a rotary drum is held in an inclined position. Hot air is blown into the drum through small vent holes formed in a bottom of the rotary drum and is exhausted through an exhaust opening formed in a lid member closing front opening of the rotary drum.
During the drying operation of the machine disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Unexamined Publication No. 57-140280, the wash to be dried is revolved in the washing/dehydrating basket. With the rotation of the washing/dehydrating basket, the wash to be dried is moved upwardly by lifters and falls downward by the gravity. However, since the washing/dehydrating basket lies horizontally, the revolving motion of the wash is limited to a motion on one plane. In other words, the wash to be dried is not moved in the direction of the depth of the washing/dehydrating basket. It is therefore difficult to uniformly dry the wash.
The machine disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Unexamined Publication No. 61-21476 moves the wash to be dried in the direction of the depth of the rotary drum, because the rotary drum is disposed in an inclined position. However, the drying efficiency of this machine is low since the drying operation is carried out by blowing hot air into the rotary drum through the small vent holes formed in the peripheral wall thereof and causing the air to flow to the front opening of the rotary drum.
The machine disclosed in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 55-52797 also moves the wash to be dried in the direction of the depth of the rotary drum, because the rotary drum is disposed in an inclined position. In this machine, however, hot air enters the rotary drum through the small vent holes formed in the bottom thereof and flows to the front opening of the rotary drum, and the drying efficiency is therefore low.